It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September.

I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short.

It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September. I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short. Congratulations Yankees. I still hate you, but congratulations :)Posted by slomag

thanks Slo, much appreciated, yanks need to finish this last stretch with good play before the real work begins, Yanks still need to clean up some things if they want to get deep in the postseason, and i'm still expecting an ALCS tilt with your home nine..

It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September. I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short. Congratulations Yankees. I still hate you, but congratulations :)Posted by slomag

You will probably get reprimanded by a certain poster that has decided that nothing can be posted here about the Yankees. She will probably report you. LOL.

I do agree that it is hard to congratulate the Yankees, but they did win the AL East. I congratulate them.

It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September. I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short. Congratulations Yankees. I still hate you, but congratulations :)Posted by slomag

You're a good sport; I myself am a little surprised at the outcome, given the pre-season hype. I had mixed feelings about the Yankees wiping the floor with TB, but apparently they don't care who they play in the PS, as it should be. I agree with you about their SP going forward, and believe the Phils are the favorites to get the ring.

It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September. I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short. Congratulations Yankees. I still hate you, but congratulations :)Posted by slomag

Hate to say it also, but Congratulations to Brian Cashman, who took alot of heat in NY for missing out on Cliff Lee and not making a big Free Agent Splash this past winter. He stuck to his guns, not wanting to part with his young talent and now he may end up with the best of both worlds, a WS appearance and his farm system in tact for future runs.

In Response to Congratulations to the AL East Champion New York Yankees : thanks Slo, much appreciated, yanks need to finish this last stretch with good play before the real work begins, Yanks still need to clean up some things if they want to get deep in the postseason, and i'm still expecting an ALCS tilt with your home nine.. Posted by jete02fan

Sorry Yank fans I'm a bit late on the congrats but congrats :) You took a very difficult division with a make shift pitching staff and good bats so good luck the rest of the way zac, jete and all of you.

Baseball is a strange game, with dominant teams just winning at around a .600 clip and even the last placed team having a good chance to beat contending teams. It was a weird year for all three contending (and very strong) AL East Teams, with at least one of them facing the very real possibility of missing the postseason.We have to give kudos to the Rays for contending despite all the players they shed and Boston for surviving the awful start. Boston and the Rays would probably have won the title in the other divisions if they had played there.I don't think there's any shame in falling short of the AL East Title given all that the two teams faced this year.

It pains me to write it, but as somebody who had them pegged to fade in the home stretch, I have to man up and say congratulations to the players and fans of the New York Yankees. Not only have they proven to be the better team this year, but they are the biggest reason we still have control of the wild card, having easily brushed aside a team in the Rays that has owned us in September. I thought with the lack of starting pitching behind Sabathia, this was the year the Yankees would not be able to keep up with the superior pitching of the Sox and Rays. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Veteran pitchers like Colon and Garcia stepped up to the task, and stayed healthy most of the year, and Ivan Nova looks like he has the makings of a legit 2-3 starter for years to come. With CJ Wilson and Edwin Jackson hitting the FA market, the Yankees have the potential for a very good rotation to go along with their always formidable offense. This was our chance to take the crown, but we fell short. Congratulations Yankees. I still hate you, but congratulations :)Posted by slomag

This season was another good example of why we need to dump inter-league play and go to a completely balanced schedule. There is no way that each team in the AL gets equal opposition from the NL teams they face; some just face weaker teams than others. And, if you are in a strong division like the AL East, you play more games against tougher opponents.

Dump inter-league play, make an even schedule, and even the playing field for all teams.

This season was another good example of why we need to dump inter-league play and go to a completely balanced schedule. There is no way that each team in the AL gets equal opposition from the NL teams they face; some just face weaker teams than others. And, if you are in a strong division like the AL East, you play more games against tougher opponents. Dump inter-league play, make an even schedule, and even the playing field for all teams. Posted by Kamdog

Major props to Cashman. Robertson, Cano, Nova, Ayala, Gardner, ... Colon and Garcia, they got what we hoped Penny, Smoltz, etc would recapture. The Granderson and Swisher deals. Boone Logan 2.93 ERA 2 years in a row and Wade 1.98. Compare Thames 2010 .841 and Jones .829 to Hermida and Cameron.Posted by tom-uk[/QUOTE]

I forgot to mention how Cashman has had the sack to go public (at the time) when the Nepotistic Owners pulled two "mistake" deals in Soriano and re-upping ARod. You gotta like his confidence to do that.

He has to keep fading HOFs not his fault.

As to the FA pitching blunders, it is a big market, late drafting reality unless you strike gold with some young pitchers. Ok Burnett, Vasquez, Brown,......... have been bad but the list is long all over of bust FA pitchers (Lackey). He has made mistakes and learned from them. If a couple, out of Hughes, Nova, B & B are the real deal the Sox are in trouble.

Torre and Girardi are a dime a dozen Cashman is the man.

Feb. 2011NottheonlyoneCrasnickESPN;

"When the offseason highlight is general manager Brian Cashman rappelling down the side of a 22-story building during a Christmas celebration while dressed in an elf costume, you know it hasn't been a great winter.

The Yankees re-signed Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, but not without incurring some collateral damage in the Jeter negotiations. They made a spirited bid to sign Cliff Lee, but a guaranteed $148 million outlay wasn't enough to seal the deal. It was the Yankees' misfortune to be big-game hunting when there was only one huge trophy on the free-agent market. Once it became clear they weren't interested in trading for Zack Greinke, there weren't a lot of plausible Plan B's and C's to pursue.

(Did Cashman really say the Yankees discussed bringing back Carl Pavano, or were we just dreaming that part?)

Rafael Soriano will help tighten things up at the back end of the bullpen, but you won't find many competing executives who subscribe to the idea of giving a setup man a three-year, $35 million contract that includes two opt-out years. Advantage: Scott Boras.

The Yankees' offense is loaded and this team still has the star power to win 90-plus games and make the playoffs. But now that Andy Pettitte is set to retire, the rotation consists of CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. (5.26 ERA) Burnett and a whole bunch of question marks in the fourth and fifth spots. With a payroll approaching $200 million, this is not a place where the Yankees wanted or expected to be.